Godfather Death

[Upstart Crow]

GODFATHER DEATH
He went onwards, and then came Death striding up to him with withered legs, and said, "Take me as godfather." The man asked, "Who art thou?" "I am Death, and I make all equal." Then said the man, "Thou art the right one, thou takest the rich as well as the poor, without distinction; thou shalt be godfather." Death answered, "I will make thy child rich and famous, for he who has me for a friend can lack nothing." The man said, "Next Sunday is the christening; be there at the right time." Death appeared as he had promised, and stood godfather quite in the usual way.

Olibanum, elemi, Bulgarian rose, yew, and opoponax.

I literally screamed with joy when I learned that BPAL had released three scents inspired by Godfather Death. it is my favorite all-time fairy tale, and one that has inspired not only a long poem, but an in-progress novel. I ordered a bottle of each scent untried and am overjoyed that I'm the first to review each.

Let's start with the Godfather himself.

Whenever I think of Godfather Death, I think of earth, woods, stone and perhaps the lightest hint of a dry, hearty flower such as moss rose. I was therefore surprised and intrigued to see that Beth had chosen Olibanum, elemi, Bulgarian rose and oppoponax for her interpretation. Given yew's meaning in Celtic tree lore, I was surprised to see this ingredient for entirely different reasons, but let that be .

In bottle: Godfather Death smells dark as the tomb. I definitely smell the oppoponax and rose and possibly the yew.

Applied wet: The rose and oppoponax sharpen into something that smells a bit like pickles at an Indian restaurant. Given that I love pickles, this is not entirely unpleasant -- just unexpected. When I think of Godfather Death I think of the sharpness, perhaps, but certainly not food!

Drying: The rose comes out and battles with the pickle smell. It's no briney exactly but it's certainly sharp.

Dry: Still astringent, but softening a little. I can detect the rose.

Overall: I like this, though it isn't what I thought it would be. I'll try him again later and see what he's like.

[filigree_shadow]

This smells exactly nothing like I thought it would. LOL, I always love it when that happens. Total surprise.

 

I got it because I love oppoponax and I wanted to find out what it smells like with rose. I wasn't sure if the olibanum would be too overpowering, and I didn't know what elemi is so I sort of ignored it, and yew is usually a wood that's usually okay on me.

I smell oppoponax, yes, but no rose. It's a sweet, sticky, dry wood scent. After about 30 minutes if I really sniff at the spot where I put the oil, it seems like maybe I can smell a little bit of rose, but it's not really there at all for me.

 

This seems mostly like opoponax and yew, with some sweet smoke.

[blu°]

very gritty, with some dustiness... I had to look up the notes to remember that there's supposed to be rose in here.

 

I think I mostly smell the opoponax.

 

Sorry for short review, am at work, just wanted to point out, that I think this smells gritty.

[puck_nc]

Origin: Straight from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: Sheer curiosity. I needed to round out an imp pack and threw it in on impulse.

 

In the Vial: Rather herby and masculine.

 

Wet: Dusty wood. I'm not getting any rose yet at all. Just dry and dusty and woodsy.

 

Drydown: The edge and the dust soften, but it's still overwhelmingly woodsy on me.

 

Verdict: Definitely not for me. Might be for my husband. Anyone who loves wood notes ought to try it.

[Iceblink]

Dry, dusty, and woody-herbal. This isn't good on me; it's got that crumbly/powdery scent to it that means a floral is going very, very wonky. Alas!

[Schmoozy]

 

Dry, dusty, extremely woodsy and very herbal. Slightly masculine, it takes a long while for the Bulgarian rose to poke through, and when it does, it is barely there. I smell orris, yet it is not listed. Mostly this Olibanum and oppoponax. As a woods lover, this is a great scent, but I really wanted the rose to come out and soften the hard lines of this blend.

[edenssixthday]

Godfather Death - I don't smell anything sweet. I don't smell anything floral. All I smell is dusty, dry wood.

[RhinestoneHousewife]

This was a frimp from the Lab.

 

In bottle: Whoa. Smelling this right out of the bottle was like getting slapped in the face with a homeless mans dick. I veeery reluctantly put some on.

 

Wet on skin: Ok, so this changed. Now I smell like a slightly older sweaty man rubbed up on me. It's got an Old Spice thing going on? Reminds me of my dad's cologne in the 70's.

 

Dry on skin: It's settled down and softened but I still don't like it.

 

Verdict: Not for me.

[impolight]

:::GODFATHER DEATH:::

 

What a rip-roaring, riveting, radical redolence!

Initially, the impressions of Godfather Death were that it was sharp and almost automotive; mechanical.

Something in this was like bitter Almond/DrPepper, but with an edge that was super-heated metal, hard at work... Neat!

Godfather Death also has bits of wood and herb in here somewhere... Wood-varnish meets Cinnamon.

Ok, the Notes...

Well, the only 2 familiar things in this one are the Rose and the Yew, but that doesn't really help with the cementation of descriptors, so, back to free-association it is!

Godfather Death comes at you, preying on unease with the unknown.

This eff's with your equilibrium a bit... Like driving 75 MPH along an overpass when a large section of it simply disappears...

Walking, glassy-eyed, wearing a 3-piece suit into a room with this fragrance could very well incite mass-eneuresis!

Spooktacular!

Godfather Death gives the wearer an insectile, predatory aura.

Well done!

5/5!

[Blood onmy hands]

In the bottle and on my skin at first, Godfather Death is a very dark, very sweet, slightly peppery smelling, resinous opoponax. It smells a bit dry and light, and keeps making me think of paper. As it dries down, the rose comes out, but it's a sour rose that I'm not really enjoying. The dry paper turns into a dry wood smell (sort of like cedar chips), and the sweet opoponax turns slightly smoky.

 

Godfather Death is a really light scent with not much throw on me. I have to press my nose up to my wrist to smell it at all, and then it's like a mix of sour rose, dry wood, and sweet incense smoke. It's not bad, but it's not something that I'll keep and wear again either. It reminds me of a weak version of Pulcinella and Teresina.

[zankoku_zen]

Dry, sticky wood. It reminds me to pepper, and some other spice I can't name. But yes, very resinous...

[NicoleJoy]

While testing this imp, I accidentally poured it all over myself. Whoops.

 

Luckily, I do enjoy the scent. My shirt is stained deep yellow though, and I'm at work...haha.

 

On my shirt, the scent is earthy and woodsy, but on my body, it softens a bit. I wouldn't get rose out of this at all if I didn't know the notes. Opoponax is most prevalent. It smells a little herbal to me, and I'd assume it'd be FANTASTIC on a man. I likely won't wear it over and over, but the smell is nice.

 

This is a very heavy scent on me, and the throw is extremely strong. I get the feeling I'll be smelling this all night

[SophieCedar]

The olibanum (frankincense) is much stronger on me. Maybe this works better on masculine body chemistry. Smells like something familiar that I just can't put my hands on!! Argh! Not halloween make up, not burning or raw frankincense, not rubber, not pomade, hmmm...

 

NicoleJoy- starting to suspect these imps are booby trapped... I did the same thing. Wearing it all over my shorts..

[angelicruin]

Very heavy scent. A little too heavy for summer months for me, but I would love this in winter.

 

I am getting a slightly sweet, dusty woods scent with just barely a bit of rose.

 

I think I might keep this imp and see how it ages.

[starfish327]

...death apparently likes a good curry. pass.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Green, mostly the yew I think

 

Wet on me - Warm, smokey and more resinous, but still green

 

Dry on me - Dark green and smokey

 

Overall - Not really my cup of tea

[hkhm]

imp: odd hoe the only thing i can smell is oppoponax.

 

wet: that's better, very dry smoky woods. an almost brittle scent, very jagged and sharp while feeling worn away with age.

 

dry: this stays pretty woodsy for hours, fading only a little on my skin.

[Ishtar]

What an interesting scent! A little sweet, a little peppery, definitely woodsy and herbal... it reminds me of a more masculine version of my beloved Tarot: The World.

 

I can see where the curry / Indian food comparisons are coming from, yet I don't find this unpleasant at all. During drydown, Godfather Death turns dustier and thinner, almost brittle like hkhm said above. After a while, I am left with an unusual medley of herbs and twigs, reminiscent of some Chinese herbal remedies.

 

This could have great layering potential, to cut through the sweetness of some fruity/spicy blends - must experiment!

[theseagrows]

hmm, this is an odd scent? i was expecting a kind of resiny-rose scent, which i thought might work, but alas, this does not. it's kind of peppery and foody in a way, but not sweet or spicy foody, but more like regular non-dessert food-foody. i looked up some of the notes, and i am not sure what yew smells like, but i know i often have issues with bpal's wood notes. i also have issues with their frankincense (sometimes), and i think elemi isn't working too well for me either. wikipedia says elemi is a lemony-pine scent, and i think i am detecting that plus this weird foody-peppery note? it almost smells like dill?! wtf skin chemistry!!

[calivianya]

I really love oppoponax, so I thought I might love this blend. Alas, this is not the case. It is very woodsy and dry with a bit of oppoponax, but it also smells strangely astringent. I'm not sure what exactly is giving it that sharp edge. I can vaguely smell the rose on the drydown, whose extreme powder puts the final nail in this scent's coffin for me.

[Maleficium]

Hmmm I don't know what half of these things are but I guess I'm about to find out!

 

Imp: sharp, peppery, and spicy! Before reading what others had posted I immediately though of some spicy curry dish.

 

wet: woodsy and even spicier! becomes very smoky on my skin. closing my eyes i can picture a crumbling ancient book on an obsidian table in the high tower of some mage.... definitely getting a big whiff of resin too. i am loving this so far. further sniffing unearths some sort of herbal concoction. it is not a specific herb, more like a bag of herbs with magical qualities. maybe a little lavender and dill in there too...

 

dry down: warmer and smokier, as if it is the charred remnants of the aforementioned book and bag of herbs. Slightly dusty.

 

I adore this scent, and will someday end up buying a big bottle.

[Indigoash]

Ok, so this was tossed in with an order(Black Forest bottle). I was really excited to see this one in the package. Unfortunately, I smell like waffles with syrup when I put it on. Fortunately, my husband wears it handsomely! It smells so good on him, it made me so jealous. I think this was a perfect scent for a man. I want to get him a bottle. He wears it every time we go out. I was shocked he liked it. He only ever wore the Dolce and Gabbana scent, but he hasn't had a bottle of that for over a year. He's so picky.

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): Oh, this is really resinous with the lovely scent of olibanum and elemi coming to the forefront. I smell a bit of a eucalyptus in here that I detect, although I do realize that it is not listed in the notes section. It could be the yew, however.

 

Wet: Hmm, on my skin, the scent has turned to pitch and not in a pleasant way. There is a little bit of lemon from the elemi.

 

Dry: Both times I have had the time to test the scent dry, my cat has licked it off. On my third test, it's pitchy resin, although it almost smells a little like cat pee.

 

Other Impressions: My husband also concurs that it smells like cat pee. That could be why my cat was so interested in licking it off. This is going in the trade pile, sadly.

[Helas]

Upon initial application, Godfather Death is a velvety rose surrounded by wisps of incense smoke and sweet opoponax. It's a dark, mysterious, regal scent that lives up to its namesake. Upon drydown, however, the rose and opoponax fade and a salty, herbal smell takes over - that "dill" or "curry" smell that other people have picked up. It reminds me of the herbal seasoning that I get from the health food store. I blame the yew, since none of the other ingredients here have ever turned into celery salt. Highly disappointing, since the initial wet scent was probably my favourite of the Lab's rose blends.

[stellamaris]

Eeep. WTF is this! I really like this, and after reading the reviews, I am not surprised, I often like "boy" scents that make others go Blerrrrgh.

 

This is sort of a more serious Urd to me. So very nice, but strong!! And thankfully I smell no wood, just wonderful resiny almost fruity, dusty goodness, very dark and a bit stinky, deep and rich...